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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Kill the Triple Crown. Off with its head. We don’t need it, yet for some reason we cling to this notion, this pie(orb?)-in-the-sky will somehow “save” horse racing.

Here’s what will happen after a horse wins the Triple Crown:

1. He’ll be on the cover of Sports Illustrated (Yippee! Now you’ve got a two bowed tendons!)

2. By Father’s Day, nobody will care.

I’d love to see it, but I think it’s high time to change the narrative. Horse racing isn’t dying, nor will it be revived or rejuvenated by a Triple Crown winner. Horse racing exists in its own ORBit, like the moon (orb?), on the outside of the sport landscape, tugged along by gravity, with waxing and waning phases. Yet, there it is.

I never—and I mean never—thought we’d see a Triple Crown winner in baseball, yet Miguel Cabrera did it in 2012. Has that sparked a greater interest in baseball? No, in fact, he wasn’t even a lock to win the MVP! That’s like a Triple Crown winner in horse racing having a hard time getting the Horse of the Year votes.

Now that Adam Scott won the Masters and the U.S. Open a month away, is the golfing world hinging its hopes on Scott winning all four? A Tiger Slam (four in a row, though not in a calendar year)? Of course not.

A Triple Crown would be nice to see and exciting to witness, but it’s not as if it will have great cultural resonance. If we really boil it down and look at its core, who are we kidding when we say we really care about a Triple Crown winner?

What we want is the tease. The Triple Crown is just the unattainable hottie at the bar who squeezed you for four $13 sour apple martinis, kissed you on the cheek, maybe touched your shoulder, then told you she had a boyfriend before cuddling in bed with her martini buzz and her former college roommate.

Yet, there you are in the bar again mackin’ it again to Triple Crown when Parx will take you home and won’t care if you call it back. It ain’t a beauty, but, hey, it’s all right.

D. Wayne told Paulick Report, “Well, it’s getting tougher, because we’re getting larger fields and the preparations leading up to these classics are so much tougher now. Back in the ’50s, when it was eight, nine head in the Derby and so forth, it wasn’t so hard to maybe come in.

"In all fairness to the horses that were in the Derby, they came up in a hard 20 horse field in the off going, and then to come back here in two weeks, that makes it tougher. If they can run in six- or eight head fields or 10 horse fields in the Derby and then roll in here, it’s going to make it easier. So it’s going to be tougher all the time.

The Triple Crown was handed to Orb, all he had to do was, you know, win.

Dale Romans said, ““I think Orb is going to win the Preakness, and I think he’ll win the Triple Crown. I’ve never said that about another horse.”

The chances for redemption in horse racing don’t come enough for the horse. Two and half weeks ago Orb was a monster, the best horse since Affirmed. Now, thanks to race tactics and an unfavorable pace scenario, he’s a mule. Will he run at his homecoming in the Belmont or wait until the Jim Dandy?

Now, it’s onto the Belmont Stakes. The luckiest horse already won the Derby. The fastest horse already won the Preakness. Who will be the best?

You see? The narrative is built right into that old adage about the Triple Crown series. We live in individualized, isolated, social networking times with attention spans requiring Adderol to answer the simple question, “How are you?”

“Yet, there you are in the bar again mackin’ it again to Triple Crown when Parx will take you home and won’t care if you call it back. It ain’t a beauty, but, hey, it’s all right.” INSTANT CLASSIC!!!!!

Triple Crowm? Who needs it? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

Everyone who has ever put down a two buck wager on a horserace does. Anyone who has ever gone to the circus does. Anyone who ever saw Micheal Jordan play does. Or Wayne Gretzky. Or Barry Sanders. Or Mickey Mantle. Or Pele. Or Secretariat. Simply anyone who likes the competition of SPORTS does. Or a freak show. Or something that just doesn’t happen very often. The curious. The TV audience that thought Orb was the one and tuned in with higher ratings than years past.

Many just wanted the TC to be alive for the Belmont. For the “buzz” factor.

Unless you are from Mars or “Corrowland” you could care less.

Happy B-Day Robert Allen Zimmerman! 72 years young and has seen three TC winners, like many of us oldtimers, and who want to see a 4th. The beat goes on?

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, ‘n’ how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, ‘n’ how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, ‘n’ how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, ‘n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it’s washed to the sea?
Yes, ‘n’ how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, ‘n’ how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

We all know what Thoroughbred racing’s attraction is, and without it racing would flat line. Yet, year after year, it is the same ole, same ole; volumes of ink spilled on the Triple Crown races, the Travers, a couple other stake races, and the Breeders’ Cup while daily attendance and handle continues to dwindle.

Successful businesses advertise and market their product’s strong points. Thoroughbred racing organizations and turf writers do not promote its strong point, gambling; instead preference is given to glorifying a few thoroughbreds, trainers, and jockeys. As an example, visualize an automobile manufacturer who has developed an engine that delivers superior gas mileage, which certainly would attract buyers; but instead of advertising and marketing the MPG all promotional efforts are directed at introducing potential buyers to the leather seats and surround-sound within the interior - the sole attraction, MPG, ignored.

Probably the majority of people who watched the Derby and Preakness have already forgotten the winner’s names; however, the people who cashed a ticket haven’t forgotten what they won, and won’t for a long time.

People go mid-week to watch MLB games and golf tournaments. People don’t go mid-week to racetracks, and a severly reduced number bother to get involved on weekends with Thoroughbred racing. And why is this? Because people who like to gamble have found other gambling alternatives, and racing organizations have given up attempting to advertise and market racing as a better option, content with receiving their weekly dole from the casino and holding six-figure stake races for Pletcher, Baffert, and the usual other trainers.

-------

Some commentator here at HRI wrote yesterday that he found Delaware racing, with small fields, lackluster. Got me to thinking. Have I ever been
bored when the plug I wagered on, staggering down the stretch, at the eighth pole had a chance to win? Can’t say that I ever have. Spilled a few beers though banging on the table.

Crazy notion, B: WMC is starting to make sense to me--even if he still thinks that turf writers are publicists. Indirectly we are, of course.

But all I can remember, when the late, great Newsday sports editor Dick Sandler decided to hire me as a handicapper/columnist, he needed the managing editor to sign off, he described my job as one of a kind of consumer advocate.

I still think of it that way; that’s why I try to give fans/bettors a voice, sometimes literally, as in the case of Indulto and Harry the Hat who, of course, is more of an insider emeritus.

Despite takeout, horse racing is still a viably sensible gambling option. The public at large doesn’t know this--but should!

It has taken five years here at HRI for me to read a comment from a prominent turf writer that states precisely that a) horse racing is still a viable gambling option, and b) the public at large doesn’t know it! This, coupled with Harry’s remark that large purses do not constitute good races, has given me some hope that after so many years adrift, Thoroughbred racing’s decision makers might finally be getting it: it ain’t the horse that’s the attraction, it’s the betting window.

As a follower of the sport, I’d love to see a Triple Crown winner, but I do think it’s a misplaced directive. I think it’s the reward for having put in time, words, and, in some cases, betting dollars. Like you said, it has more to do with witnessing athletic greatness.

Mr. O’Meara: I believe that you will accept the following fact: if Thoroughbred racing didn’t have betting windows, no one would give racing a second thought. So, how can you describe Thoroughbred racing as a sport when standing in front of a betting window?

A reminder to all you weekend warriors. Ya gotta pick the winner before takeout becomes relevant. A fact, right Mr. Kling?

Me, if I am picking winners takeout is of little interest to me. Of course I would make much more money if takeout were lower, but, again, if you pick enough winners while takeout hurts it does not get in the way of cashing.

“… how can you describe Thoroughbred racing as a sport when standing in front of a betting window?”

The physical activity involved in accessing one’s wallet and shoving currency at a teller might be considered a competitive athletic event depending upon the weight of the wallet, the speed of bettor-teller interaction, and the urgency/timing of the transaction.

IMO, however, no athletic competition in which any of the performers are compensated, rewarded , or supported should be considered a sport.

John,
Hardly anyone bets on cell phones and nobody bets on tablets with ADWs. All gambling web sites are blocked off in the country and it is impossible to connect. You could theoretically make a bet on the phone. Hardly anyone does. If they did, the handle would show up in someone’s pool
What is bet on is a pick six and Tri-cast where each paid admission gets a betting slip that is then filled out. It looks like the old pick six cards or parlay cards. There are carryovers from week to week and the Dubai Racing Club puts up all the money. Since the person doesn’t put up any money, it is not considered betting and doesn’t violate sharia law.
To show you how popular it is, at the end of the night, track announcer Terry Spargo gives the results. He plays it up very dramatically and everyone waits with anticipation. Can’t find it on the web site but I think they fund it with 40,000 dirhans and it goes from there.

Can someone please explain to me why my newspaper(Newsday) has todays entries and yesterdays results for Belmont Park in the SPORTS section?

Jockeys can’t be athletes, anyone can ride a horse at 40mph through traffic right? It doesn’t require any strength guiding these half a ton animals?

Thoroughbred horses can’t be athletes can they? No grace, agility, strength or quickness can be detected by the human eye? HUH?

Why is horseracing on TV found on the NBC SPORTS network?

Why in Dubai where you can’t bet do they fill the rafters with fans for the horseraces? AHHH they must be brainwashed?

Why in horseracing like football, baseball, basketball and hockey do they have billionaire owners? I’m sure Ogden Phipps was in the game just to bet?

Why in horseracing are there trainers who act more like managers or coaches like other team SPORTS?

Yes horseracing stays in business because people have different opinions and will wager on those opinions. Football is the far and most popular SPORT in the USA because it’s wager friendly too!

So what the heck is horseracing? The beat goes on?

Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?
People’d call, say, “Beware doll, you’re bound to fall”
You thought they were all kidding you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hanging out
Now you don’t talk so loud
Now you don’t seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal

You’ve gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
And now you find out you’re going to have to get used to it
You said you’d never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He’s not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And ask him, “Do you want to make a deal?”

You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all come down and did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain’t no good
You shouldn’t let other people get your kicks for you
You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain’t it hard when you discover that
He really wasn’t where it’s at
After he took from you everything he could steal

Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They’re drinking, thinking that they got it made
Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts and things
But you’d better lift your diamond ring, you’d better pawn it, babe
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now, he calls you, you can’t refuse
When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You’re invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

Boy, howdy, I must be an athlete because I feel like a jockey riding these 40 MPH-comments!

TC, keep rockin’, brotha!

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